twhite91 Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 I wanted to know what was the best way possible to have a UV light turn on when a printing job is sent and turn off once complete. (I have seen the modified Epson Chinese A3 UV printers do this) I recently completed a UV build and I use a toggle currently. I have seen on youtube led lights turned on & off with Raspberry Pi but I was unsure what parts and special coding would be needed with opendtg. I am currently using the all in one board. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilesink Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 The easiest way is have a microswitch mounted so the light comes on when the print head moves from the capping station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twhite91 Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Never thought of that and it seems the simplest way - thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilesink Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Depending on the current of the led's you are using you will probably need to have the switch operate a relay. Another way is to connect the switch to an arduino and control the led with a mosfet which is simple to do at low cost and you could even add a time delay before it turns off of a few seconds so it can cure the last bit of printing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twhite91 Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 Thanks again for all your insight. The specs on the UV light power source: 40W Led Driver INPUT AC100-240V OUTPUT DC28-36V 1200mA I ordered some mosfet switches IRF520 and I'm watching some videos. I may need some help on where to put the code in respect to the opendtg code. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17vqLv508Uw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilesink Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) If you simply want it on when the print head is moving and off when in the capping station you only need to add to the code a very basic few lines to define the pin for the switch and for the output pin to the mosfet then just to say if the switch pin is high mosfet pin high or if low mosfet pin low. I would put it in the printing section of the code and also add a part for if the platen is ejected mosfet pin low so it's not on during head cleaning etc. The only tricky part if using the aio board is finding where and how to connect the wires to the board. Andy could hopefully say if there are any pins available on the board for the connections as I don't have one to look at. Edited October 26, 2018 by reptilesink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy - Admin Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 There are a few places on the AIO board that you could connect to. Pause on the right side isn't used and RST, RX, TX in the LCD header on the upper left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twhite91 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 Thank you Andy for the pin positions and thank you reptilesink for your help. I'm waiting on a few parts and will update this post once I have everything installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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